Six Hours Till We Self Desruct
by tasha8694
Summary: Who knew six hours together would ruin everything. Troy/Sharpay. This is an AU which occurs after the Gabriella calls to tell Troy she won’t be coming back during HSM3.
1. Misunderstandings

**Warning: !SPOILERS FOR HSM3! This is an AU which occurs after the Gabriella calls to tell Troy she won't be coming back during HSM3.**

**Summary: Who knew six hours together would ruin everything. ****Troy/Sharpay**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot of the story. All characters belong to the creators of High School Musical****.**

_Italic - thoughts_, **Bold - author notes**

--

**Chapter 1: Misunderstandings**

"She's not coming back, man." Troy sighed.

Chad looked confused, "She's going to miss prom?"

"No, she's not coming back at _all_," Troy replied as he chucked his phone across the room and flopped onto his bed.

Chad looked at a loss for words, "That's lousy, man."

Troy was about to reply when his phone started ringing. Getting up he answered it, "Hello?"

"Troy!" exclaimed Sharpay on the other end, "You were severely lacking in your performance today at rehearsals. You should come over so you can improve."

Tory pinched the bridge of his nose, "Now's not really a good-"

"I'll you in half an hour," she said cutting him off and hanging up the phone.

Troy closed his phone and looked over at Chad. "Who was that?"

"No one," Tory said looking up, "Listen, I have to go. I'll catch you later." And without another word Troy ran past Chad and out of his house.

--

Troy soon found himself standing in front of the Evan's house ringing the doorbell. He'd walked the entire way there because he needed the fresh air to clear his mind. He couldn't explain it but he felt oddly comforted now that he was here.

It wasn't long before Sharpay answered the door, "Troy!" she exclaimed happily.

"Hi, Sharpay," he replied awkwardly.

"Did you bring your script?" she asked as she grabbed his hand and dragged him into the house and up the stairs to her room.

When they'd reached her bedroom door and Troy noticed that Sharpay's name was scrawled across it in pink sparkly letters.

"No, I totally forgot it. I didn't-"

"That's OK, I have plenty of copies." She quickly replied pushing open the door, again cutting him off.

Troy was shocked. There was a small stage with everything you could possibly need to put on a show, her walk in closet was the size of his bedroom, her bed was big enough for five people to sleep in comfortably and she had her own private balcony. "Wow," was all he could mutter as he followed her into the room, a little faster than he would have liked because he was still holding on to her hand.

"I know, right," She giggled with her normal smile. It was the only one Troy had ever seen and he still was amazed at how fake it still looked.

"So…about my performance at rehearsal." He started.

"Well, you're doing everything right. It's just like you don't care or something."

"I'm sorry. It's just with Gabriella away and-"

Sharpay placed a finger over his lips, she looked like she was about to murder him, "Aren't you happy for her? I mean she's doing what she always dreamed of doing, being a genius."

Troy nodded, he was afraid to answer her for fear of her ripping out his tongue.

"That's what I thought. Now," she continued as she walked over to her stage with her fake smile plastered in her face again.

When she reached center stage and turned around to face him she suddenly looked frustrated, "Troy!" she said exasperated.

"Sorry," he repeated and quickly hurried to her side.

"The balcony number today was awful. We're going to do that scene until it's perfect, understand?"

Tory nodded.

"Good now, from the top."

--

It was at least a good two hours later when Sharpay decided they should take five. Troy didn't argue and watched her walk off the stage and flop her bed looking frustrated. He just stood on the stage with his hands in his pockets, unsure of what to do.

It seemed like an eternity before Sharpay sat up and looked at him, "Troy, come sit." She said motioning to the section of bed beside her.

He did as he was told and sat down beside her. The both sat there in silence until Troy couldn't stand it. "Sharpay I think I should go." He said looking over at her. He looked like she was going to cry, "Sharpay what's the matter?" he asked taking her hands.

She looked up into his eyes, "Troy, don't leave."

"What? Why?"

She pulled her hands from his and got up and walked to the doors of her balcony, "Because I need your help. How am I supposed to take over Gabriella's spot in the play?" Tears started to run down her checks now, "Everyone hates me! They all want Gabriella back. It doesn't even matter that I didn't even matter that this time I didn't even try to get rid of her so I could get the lead."

Troy didn't know what possessed him but he suddenly found himself getting up and turning Sharpay around to face him. "What are you talking about?"

Sharpay stared into his eyes and felt the urge to confess, like it was OK to tell him, that he would protect her secret. "Do you want to know why I want to be a star so much? Why I everything I own is pink, why I'm always so mean to people?"

He nodded subconsciously as he wiped the tears off her face.

"I'm afraid of being forgotten."

"Sharpay, that's crazy! No one could ever forget you as long as they lived, even if you didn't do any of that stuff."

She believed what he said, as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest, but she need to be sure, "You mean it?"

He was confused by the hug. He'd never seen Sharpay so open and vulnerable. His head told him to push her away but his heart told him not to, that she needed this. So he listened to his heart, "I mean it."

She smiled and lifted her head to look at him again.

Troy finally saw her smile, her true smile and before he knew what he was doing he started to kiss her.

She was shocked and quickly pushed Troy away from her, covering her mouth with her hand in the process.

Troy looked horrified, "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have."

Tears formed in Sharpay's eyes again, "Troy…what about Gabriella?"

"There is no Gabriella. We broke up today. We're ov-"

Troy was cut off when Sharpay's lips returned to his. It felt so wrong because it wasn't Gabriella but he couldn't stop himself.

He flicked his tongue over her lips. She parted them allowing him entrance. She grabbed the front of his shirt to pull him closer and he slammed her up against the balcony doors.

She groaned in pleasure and pain as their tongues did their own private desperate dance. Her hands moved down to his waist and pulled his shirt up and over his head, breaking their kiss.

She went to kiss him again when Troy stopped her, "Wait," he said breathlessly, "where's you r bother?"

"At school…Kelsi… working on play." She answered just as out of breath as he is.

He nodded and pressed their foreheads together, "parents?"

She closed the distance between their lips, "gone."

That was good enough for Troy and he desperately started kissing her again. This time he lifted her up and moved to her bed.

--

Tiara Gold hated serving Sharpay but she knew that if she wanted to be made the lead in all of next year's school plays she need pull with Ms. Darbus. Therefore she needed to be on Sharpay's good side.

She walked up to Sharpay's house to give Sharpay her dry cleaning. She was about to ring the doorbell when she noticed that the door wasn't shut right. So without thinking twice she headed inside the house to put the dry cleaning away in Sharpay's closet.

She hummed to herself as she walked up the stairs and to Sharpay's room. However what she say when she entered Sharpay's room made her jaw drop.

Troy, Tory Bolton the basket ball boy and boyfriend of Gabriella Montez, was lying under the covers, fast asleep, with Sharpay.

Troy lay on his back with his arm around Sharpay, who was lying beside him with her head on his chest. As far as she could tell they were both naked under the sheets and she could only guess why.

As quietly as she could she pulled out her phone and snapped a couple pictures, just in case. Then she quietly re-closed the door and walked back down the stairs. She walked out the door, securely closing it behind her. She was halfway down the side walk when Ryan Evans pulls up on his vesper.

"Hey Tiara, is Sharpay home?" he asked, getting of his vesper and walking up the walk to meet her.

Tiara put on an innocent smile, "I don't know. I rang the doorbell but no one answered. I was supposed to drop of her dry cleaning but you could do that now for me, right?"

"Sure, no problem, she was probably just rehearsing and didn't hear the doorbell."

"Thanks Ryan," she said before passing him the dry cleaning and walking the rest of the way to her car.

Ryan shrugged at Tiara's weird behaviour and continued inside the house. Once there he chucked Sharpay's dry cleaning over the nearest chair and went to his room to work on some more choreography for the play.

--

Troy opened his eyes. He was confused when he saw so much pink and felt another body beside him. Lifting his head and looking around suddenly everything came flooding back to him."Sharpay," he said as he shook her awake.

"Five more minutes." She mumbled as she rolled over.

Troy rolled his eyes and looked over at the clock. It was 11 o'clock at night. Suddenly he started to panic, "Sharpay!" He said more urgently as he jumped out of bed and rummaged around for his boxers.

"What?" She said finally sitting up with her eyes still closed.

He finally found his boxers and pulling them on he looked up at her, "Shar, it's 11 o'clock at night. I've been here since five. My parents must be freaking, they have no idea where I am!" he finished as he pulled on his pants.

Sharpay's eyes flew open, "What!" She exclaimed as she looked over at the clock and screamed.

"Pay, is everything alright?" Ryan said as he entered Sharpay's room. "I heard you-" he stopped abruptly as his eyes fell on the sight in front of his eyes. His sister sitting in her bed, sheet pulled up over her chest, obviously covering her naked body, and Troy frozen in his place.

Sharpay recovered the quickest and quickly got up out of bed, wrapping the large bed sheet around her. "Ryan, please don't say anything." She said as she quickly walked over to him.

"But…what?" he said confused.

Troy quickly put on his shirt and walked to stand beside Sharpay, "Please, you can't say _anything_."

Ryan was about to say something when suddenly their father's voice came from the hallway. "Kids are you alright?"

Sharpay's eyes suddenly became the size of saucers as she dashed to the door and closed it, "We're fine dad!" she answered.

"Why were you screaming?" he asked from the other side of the door.

Sharpay looked at a loss for words, "I…um…"

"I split my tea on her script." Ryan suddenly said.

"Oh, OK. Well don't stay up too late kids."

"'Kay daddy," Sharpay said as leaned against the wall and slide down to the floor in relief. "Thank you Ryan." She whispered.

Ryan nodded in acknowledgement but was only looking at Troy, and he looked furious. "Don't thank me. I did this to repay a debt to someone who I thought was a decent guy, someone I looked too to better myself." He said before he headed for the door.

"Ryan stop," Troy said. Ryan had his hand to the door handle but he did as he was told and faced Troy, hate radiated out of his eyes. "What do you mean by 'someone who I thought was a decent guy'?"

"You slept with my sister Troy!" he said exasperated.

"Shh, keep your voice down." Tory said as Sharpay stood up and huffed, obviously offended by her brother's comment.

"And what's that supposed to mean, _Ryan_?_" _She asked.

"Pay, he's Gabriella's boyfriend!" he said before he quickly left the room, not wanting to hear any explanation they could come up with.

Sharpay looked scared as she stared at the closed door her brother had just left through, "Troy. You didn't lie to me right? You and Gabriella did break up right?"

"Yes." He replied as he put his hands in his pockets feeling completely embarrassed by Ryan's comments.

Sharpay turned around to face him, "You're sure?"

"_Yes_."

"What happened _exactly_?"

"She said she wasn't coming back, period."

"Troy, no, no, no!" Sharpay exclaimed as tears started to fall down her checks again. "That's not what she meant!"

"What?" he said confused.

"Ever since she's gotten here she's been saying it's over with you but she never means it! I thought you ended it. I thought…"

"Whoa, calm down."

"No! I will not calm down! I just helped you cheat on your girlfriend, how am I supposed to calm down?!"

"I told you we-"

"Shut up Troy!"

Troy looked hurt as they stood there looking at each other. The only thing they could hear was Sharpay's panicky breathing.

The silence was broken when Troy's cell phone started ringing, "Hello," he said. Sharpay tore her gaze from Troy and walked into her closet. As she closes the closet door she hears Troy say, "I'll see you soon Gabby. I love you too." And it feels like a knife to her heart.

When she came back out, dressed in a shirt and PJ bottoms Troy was gone. He'd probably left before she could yell at him again.

She felt numb as walked over to her dresser and grabbed her hair brush and started brushing out the tangles in her hair. She walked around her room brushing her hair absentmindedly until she caught a glimpse of herself in her full length mirror.

She no longer saw the star Sharpay Evans. All she could see was the broken mess Tory had left, the other woman, the slut, the one who would be forgotten when Troy got back together with Gabriella.

Sharpay chucked her hair brush at the mirror and watched it shatter, just like Troy had done to hopes and dreams.

--

**TBC…**


	2. Use and Abuse

**Thank you to everyone who commented! Hope you enjoy this chapter! *hugs***

**--**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot of the story. All characters belong to the creators of High School Musical****.**

_Italic - thoughts_, **Bold - author notes**

--

**Chapter 2: Use and Abuse**

When Troy walked through the front door of his house he was instantly engulfed by Gabriella's arms it felt so right but he hated it. "What are you doing here?" He asked pulling himself out of the hug.

"I thought I told you on the phone?" she said confused but started explaining anyway, "After I hung up, I knew I'd made the wrong choice. I love you Troy Bolton and I'll _always_ come back to you, no matter where I've been."

"So you just jumped on the next plane and flew here?"

She looked even more confused than before, "Troy, I thought you were happy about this."

"Oh, I am," He said plastering on a fake smile and picking her up and swinging her around, "This isn't happy enough for you?"

Gabriella smiled her amazingly infectious smile before she kissed him. He kissed her back out of habit and again it felt so right but he hated it. He heard a thump upstairs and they pulled apart. "Do my parents know you're here?"

"I told them I only wanted to wait till you got home, so I better get going." She said kissing his lips and quickly exiting out the door.

Troy just stood and looked at the door, he couldn't explain it but with each passing moment he slipped further and further into confusion. He slowly walked up to his room and closed the door. "How did I let this happen?" he whispered to himself as he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the door.

He loved Gabriella but when he was with Sharpay it felt so right. It was if all the puzzle pieces fit together and he knew what he needed to do.

Needing some fresh air he went to his balcony he climbed down the terrace beside it. He walked across the grass in his backyard until he came to the base of his tree house. Climbing up he sat on the edge of it, like he'd done not that long ago with Gabriella. He sighed and lied down and closed his eyes. Feeling more confused than he'd ever felt in his life he soon fell asleep.

Troy was woken when the sun came up but he still feeling exhausted and climbed back down the tree house, then back up the terrace and collapsed into his bed to catch a couple more hours of sleep before he had to get up for school.

--

Sharpay was awake when her alarm went off. The truth was she'd never gone to sleep. The memories of what she'd done haunted her mind as she stared at the clock with vacant eyes. She didn't even have the strength to turn her alarm off, she just let if continue to beep. It soon became background noise and she heard nothing but Troy and Ryan's voices echoing in her head.

_You slept with my sister Troy!_

_There is no Gabriella. We broke up today._

_He's Gabriella's boyfriend!_

_I'll see you soon Gabby. I love you too._

When her father came in her room and told her she'd better get up or she'd be late for school she didn't move a muscle. She didn't react when he started to call her name with a worried voice, though she was fully aware she should answer. Only when her father came running over to her asking if she was alright did she look at him.

"Sharpay, answer me!" he screamed at her as he put his hand on her arm. She flinched from his touch. He looked scared, "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"Daddy, please. I don't want to go to school today. Can I stay here?" she finally managed to say, shifting her gaze to his.

"What about the play? You need to rehearse. I'm sure Troy, Ryan, Kelsi, everyone is counting on you."

Tears started to form in her eyes at the mention of his name, "Please" she begged.

"Alright sweetheart," her father said caving.

"Thank-you Daddy," She whispered before the tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes. She could tell he wanted to comfort her but he was afraid she'd cringe from his touch again. Instead he opted for a nod and a quick exit out of her bed room after turning off her alarm clock.

Sharpay again fixed her eyes on the clock. Time had no meaning to her though she knew the exact minutes that had passed since she ruined her life. She continued to count them as the memories again haunted her mind.

She was vaguely aware she'd been up for more than 24 hours before she felt sleep start to finally pull her under.

--

Troy woke to his alarm, he quickly rolled over to hit the snooze. He didn't want to get up but he knew he had no choice. Everyone in the play was counting on him. Rolling out of bed, he stumbled his way around his room, grabbing some clean clothes and making his way to the shower.

When Troy arrived at school he instantly saw Gabriella sitting and talking with Taylor as if she'd never left. He could hear her laugh and smiled to himself as he walked over to her. "Good morning," he said when he reached her.

Turning around Gabriella's smile got brighter, if that was possible, before she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. Again Gabby's touches felt so right but he couldn't stand them. He quickly broke the kiss. Looking over at Taylor he smiled, "Good morning to you too Taylor."

"Don't expect to get the same reaction out of me, _Bolton_." She said sassily before grabbing her bags and heading for the school doors.

Both Tory and Gabriella laughed and followed her into the school. Upon entering their homeroom Ms. Darbus automatically started drawing on about something, Troy wasn't paying attention. He was more focused on the fact that Sharpay was missing and that Ryan absolutely refused to look at him.

All morning Troy tried to push his thoughts and memories of Sharpay out of his mind but he just couldn't stop thinking about those six perfect hours.

At lunch he couldn't stand it anymore and snuck away from Taylor, Chad, Gabriella, Kelsi, everyone at his normal table. He pulled out his phone and dialed Sharpay's cell, waiting as it rang. When the voice mail picked up Troy felt his heart sink. "Hey, you reached Sharpay Evans, like you didn't already know that. Leave a message if you think you're important enough and I'll see if I can get back to you, tootles."

Troy could help but smile, "Hey Sharpay, am I important enough?" He paused, realizing what he just said. How impersonal it felt. "Listen," he started again. "I don't know why you're not at school this morning, but I just have to say that," he paused again. He wasn't exactly sure why he was calling. "I guess I just miss you. I know it's weird to say but I do. And, besides, everyone at rehearsal is counting on us, on you, so will you please come. I don't know why you're not at school today but I want you go come, everyone does." He finished as he ended his call, taking a deep breath and pinching the bridge of his nose.

_What am I going to do? Why am I staying with Gabby when I know I want to be with Sharpay?_

Troy's thoughts were interrupted when Gabriella came up behind him and dragged him back to their table in the cafeteria.

--

Troy almost fell of the chair he was sitting on at rehearsal when he saw Sharpay walk in. She was in bad shape. She wasn't at all her normal glamorous self. She was wearing runners, a gray sweat suit and her hair was pulled back into a loose braid under a ball cap.

He watched, transfixed, as she smiled weakly to everyone who greeted her. Sharpay avoided his eyes the whole rehearsal and whenever he had to touch her she flinched away from him.

Troy couldn't stand it and had to talk to her. He found her in her dressing room packing up her bag. "Sharpay," he said cautiously.

Sharpay froze and looked up into his eyes for the first time today. They lacked their usual shine and Troy felt sick to his stomach because he knew it was his fault.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly before turning to go.

"You love her, don't you," Sharpay said suddenly. Now it was his turn to freeze. "Why?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

He turned around and looked at her as tears slipped out the corners of her eyes and down her checks. He couldn't answer.

"Why," she repeated.

He hated that she was right but there was no answer he was willing to give her. He loved her just as much as he loved Gabby but he couldn't admit that, he barely wanted to admit it to himself.

"Troy, tell my why!" She yelled at him, completely distraught.

He flinched. "I don't know."

"What about me? What am I to you?"

Again he just stared at her. He didn't know how to answer. There were a thousand ways screaming inside his head but he could say any of them.

Sharpay waited a few seconds before grabbing her stuff and heading for the door. As she passed Troy he reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back towards him. The force caused her to drop her bag, all of its contents spilled everywhere along the floor.

"Troy, what," she said surprised as he didn't release her and pushed her up against the nearest wall.

He stared into her eyes, "You mean so much to me Sharpay. When I'm with you it feels right." He said finally finding the words.

Sharpay felt exposed and tore her gaze from his , closing her eyes and turning her head away from him. Her heart rate quickened when she felt him start to trail soft kisses down her jaw. "Troy," she whimpered.

"I'll break up with Gabby, just say the words. I love her but I want you." He replied, pausing momentarily. Sharpay didn't reply and Troy started kissing a path down her neck to the start of her shoulder.

"Please," she whimpered again, still refusing to give into his tactics. She wouldn't be the reason Troy and Gabriella break up.

"Say them and I'm all yours." He said as he slowly made his way back up her neck, to her jaw.

"Troy I," she started as he paused, "think you should go." She could tell she'd hurt him, but she didn't care. He belonged with Gabriella, they just couldn't be together.

"No, say the words Sharpay," he pleaded as he turned her face towards him again.

Sharpay just stared into his eyes, it was like they were fire and she again felt exposed. Thinking quickly she slowly pulled out her cell and typed out and S.O.S to Ryan. Troy didn't notice, he was too focused on forcing her to say what he wanted to hear. What he wouldn't say.

"Say them," he begged again, his eyes softening.

Again she refused to answer him. Troy was about to say something else when suddenly Ryan's voice came from the door, "get away from her, Bolton." He said, clenching his teeth on the last syllable.

Troy did know what to do, so he let Sharpay go. He watched transfixed as she gathered the spilt contents of her bag and stood up again. Again she was heading out of the room when Troy grabbed her wrist. It all happened so fast that Troy barely had time to register it at all. The instant Troy had latched his fingers around Sharpay's wrist Ryan had reacted and grabbed Troy by the collar of his shirt, slamming his up against the wall in the process.

"Don't touch her," he spat out through clenched teeth. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Ryan released Troy and quickly walked out of the room with his sister in tow.

--

**TBC…**


	3. Emotional Betrayal

**I can't believe how long it took me to get this chapter written! My muse was totally refusing to co-operate then suddenly she was in full swing tonight and I sat down and wrote this in a couple hours! Go figure! Thank you SO much to everyone who took the time to comment! Hope you enjoy this new chapter! *hugs and kisses***

**--**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot of the story. All characters belong to the creators of High School Musical****.**

_Italic - thoughts_, **Bold - author notes**

--

**Chapter 3: Emotional Betrayal**

Troy walked home kicking himself for what he'd done to Sharpay. _How could I do that? How could I have asked her to tell me to break it off with Gabriella?_ Troy walked through his front door and climbed the stairs to his bedroom.

It was Friday night and for the first time, probably in his life, he turned off his phone. Heading downstairs the calls for his parents but there's no answer. He walked into the kitchen and noticed a note taped onto a plate of food.

_Troy,_

_We've gone out. Heat this up if you get hungry._

_Mom_

Troy ripped the note to shreds and chucked the pieces in the sink. Looking at the pieces he couldn't help but wonder what was happening to him. _Why am I so confused? It should be so simple! _"God!" he exclaims in frustration. Troy walks absent mindedly to his father's study and stares at the shelf of trophies, his and his father's. He runs his hands trough his hair and sighs heavily before spinning around. Just before he exits the room he spots his father's liquor cabinet. Without think twice he grabs a bottle of vodka and heads outside.

Unscrewing the top as he walks he takes a large swig. It burns and Troy chokes. He shakes his head and gingerly places the cap back on the bottle as he stands at the bottom of his tree fort. He climbs up. _I seem to be doing this a lot lately_. He thinks to himself.

Troy walks towards the railing and lays a hand on it. He looks at the sunset and wonders if Sharpay is watching it too. He takes the lid off the vodka bottle and takes a smaller drink this time. It burns less. He walks to the inside of the tree fort and slumps down against the wall, completely disappearing from the outside world. He looks around and memories to cloud his mind.

He remembers building it with his dad. He remembers sleeping it the first night. He can still smell the strong smell of new wood. He remembers all the things he and Chad pretended to be as kids. But of all the memories there's one that seems to stand out the strongest. He remembers just sitting in his tree fort and looking into the neighbor's yard. That was the year the Evan's had lived next door.

They moved in during the summer of grade seven. Troy and his family were away on vacation when then moved in. He remembers how excited he was when they got back and he discovered a boy his own age had moved in next door.

Troy smiles.

The friendship didn't last long with Ryan but Troy was fascinated with his twin sister, Sharpay, until she left the next summer.

Troy takes another big gulp. It burns his throat again but it dulls the pain. Troy again gets lost in his memories.

--

Ryan watched his sister protectively through the rearview mirror the whole drive home. She looked awful. She was pale, glassy eyed and sat curled in a ball in the back seat of her car. When they reached their house and Ryan had pulled into the garage she slowly grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder before heading into the house.

"I'm going to take a shower Ry," she says quietly as she leaves.

He watches her leave and can only hope it will help.

--

Sharpay walks into her room, dumps her bag on the floor, and walks back out of the room to the bathroom. She turns on the water and the buzzing sound helps to focus her. Flashes and snippets of memories of heated kisses and hot slick skin on skin run through her mind as she undresses. She feels disgusted because she's not appalled by the memories; they're cherished memories from now until forever even if Troy did just use her. She loves him, simple as that. She's loved him since seventh grade and she lived next door to him.

She steps into the shower. The water is boiling. She thinks of turning it down but it dulls the pain and leaves it. She can't bring herself to do anything besides stand under the spray and remember.

--

"Sharpay!" Ryan screams from the other side of the locked bathroom door. He pounds on the door, "Sharpay, answer me!" It has been at least three hours and he hasn't heard from his sister or heard the shower turn off. _The water must be ice cold by now what is she doing in there?_ He thinks.

Their parents hadn't come home. They'd called and told Ryan they were eating out and not to expect them back until late. It was so typical for them to not be here when he needed them the most.

"Sharpay!" he shouts one last time before back up across the hall and pressing against the opposite wall. "You brought this upon yourself 'Pay" he mutters before running at the door and ramming into it.

The door doesn't break as expected so he readjusts. He raises his foot and kicks the door near the handle. The frame breaks and the door swings open. Inside he sees Sharpay sitting in the middle of the shower hugging her knees, head resting on them with her hair cascading down.

She looks paler than when he last saw her. Ryan rushes to his sister and throws open the glass door. He reaches to push aside her hair but is hit by the ice cold water, "oh my god, 'Pay" he says as he stands to turn off the water.

He again goes to push back her hair, she's ice cold. "We need to get you warm." He grabs her housecoat and drapes it over her shoulders before standing her up. There's a dead look in her eyes. He warps an arm around her and walks her back to her room. Once in her closet he sets her down on the bench and goes about collecting clean, warm clothes.

He sets the clothes beside her and proceeds to kneel in front of her. "'Pay," he says cautiously, "I need you to put these on. Can you do that?" He knows not to push her in this broken state. He's seen it only twice before.

Sharpay looks meekly at the pile beside her and nods, "'kay."

Ryan kisses her on the forehead before exiting the closet, closing the door behind him and leans on the door. _I have got to know what is going on. It's the only way to help her. I'm her brother, I have to help her._ Ryan continues to get lost in his thoughts until he hears a soft knock on the door. He opens the door and sees Sharpay dressed in the clothes he picked out, her hair soaking them. "Here," he says grabbing a towel and wrapping her hair up.

She smiles weakly, "thanks."

He guides her towards her bed and gets her settled under the covers. "I'm going to go heat up a cup of tea to warm you up." She nods in understanding and he exits to the kitchen. However, when he comes back she's fast asleep from emotional and physical exhaustion.

--

Troy wakes to someone shaking him. He grunts and shoves the hand away. The shaking grows stronger and he can hear a female voice. He rolls over and opens his eyes a crack, its dark and he sees the figure of a dark-haired girl. "Dabby?" he mumbles, the smell of vodka potent on his breath.

"Troy," the voice sounds cracked with worry, "wake up. What are you doing here? Why are you drunk?"

He sits up and his head spins. He fights to keep from throwing up. "I twas trying to forget," he states simply.

"Forget what?" the voice responds. He's still not sure if its Gabriella. It sounds like her but his eyes are still closed as he concentrates on stopping his head from exploding.

"Sharpay."

"Sharpay? What?"

Troy opens his eyes and a blurry focus of Gabriella appears. She shakes his head and his vision clears. She's obviously worried but she looks more concerned about what he's saying than him. "Why should I tell you?" He says without thinking.

She looks hurt, "what?!"

"You seem more interested in what I'm saying than my state."

"Troy, don't do this. Let me help."

"Let," Troy hiccups, "let do help me?" he slurs. "Right, cause I'm da one that breaks up den gets back together like I've suddenly gained a case of amnesia."

"Troy," Gabriella pleas.

"Leave. I'm done with you. Sharpay was right, I should have done this a long time ago. I hate that I can't trust your love." There's new strength in him and he knows it the vodka but he doesn't fight it because it's telling things to Gabriella he never thought he could say because he loves her. He stands up and sees the hurt look in her eyes. "Don't give me that look. You're not the victim here, I am. I'm the victim for taking your bullshit for so long. I'm the idiot for taking you back every time you jump to conclusions or believe what you're told before you check with me!"

Tears are cascading down her checks now, "who are you?" she asks before retreating to the ladder and climbing down.

He walks to the railing and watches her go. He looks over and sees his mother's horrified look and his father's look of rage. _Great I'm in major shit now._

--

Sharpay wakes from her sleep and sits up. She still feels kind of tingly from the shower but mostly she feels alone.

"You're up," a voice says. She instantly recognizes it as Ryan and looks in his direction. He's made himself comfortable at her desk and is working away at what looks like music for the play. She smiles and feel the loneliness start to slip away. He gets up and walks over to sit beside her on the bed. "You okay," he asks. She nods. She knows he sees through it. "What happened yesterday?"

"Was it only yesterday?" Ryan nods but stays silent. "I slept with Troy, that's what happened." She stops and waits for Ryan's reaction but he just continues to look at her. Tears start to slip down her checks, "I slept with Troy while he was still with Gabriella Montez. I'm the other woman Ry! I'm…I'm nothing to him. I mean so little to him he won't break up with Gabriella! I hate myself! Why did I-"

"Whoa, stop!" Ryan says placing his hands on either side of her face to focus her. "You are Sharpay Evans, a wonderful actress and a sister who I adore. There is no reason to hate someone I love." He wipes away the tears on her face. She smiles and pulls him into a hug, "I love you Ry but I just can't love me right now."

--

**TBC…**

**I just want to remind you all again that I am ****NOT**** abandoning the story. My life has just become crazy super busy and my muse has ****totally**** deserted me so inspiration is slow. I will hopefully update a minimum of once a month. Yes I know that's a long time but it's the best I can do at this point.**

**Thank you again for being SO patient with me.**

**Tasha.**


	4. Is This the End?

**June 3rd 2009**

**OMG I'm done! This is the last chapter and I have to say that I really really love the ending so I hope you do too!!**

**I can't believe it has taken me over six months to finish this!! This is the first multi-chapter story I've finished so I'm very excited. I love every one of you who has followed me from the beginning! *giant Jared hugs***

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot of the story. All characters belong to the creators of High School Musical****.**

_Italic - thoughts_, **Bold - author notes**

--

**Chapter 4: Is This the End**

It was the morning and Troy felt like he was going to die. His head pounded from his hang over. Every sound and bright light only made it worse. Of course it doesn't help that his truck decided to crap out on him today and refused to start. To top it off he's completely grounded for the first time in his life. His parents couldn't believe their star son had absorbed an entire vodka bottle and not had some violent reaction. Mostly they couldn't believe he'd done it in the first place. They knew they were over reacting but they kept to the strict ground rules they'd laid out the night before, luckily it was only a week long punishment. Troy was to only go to school and work on the play. After that he was to come home. No friends, period.

Troy was just walking up to the front doors of the school when his phone starts to vibrate in his pocket. He pulls it out and looks at the caller ID.

It's Gabriella.

"Hello," he says.

"I need you to come up here." Gabriella's voice screams out of the tiny speaker. He swears she's trying to make his headache worse.

"Fine," he says bitterly.

--

Sharpay gets out of the passenger seat of her car. Ryan's driving because he feels she's too distracted to pay attention to the road. _Like you're not completely distracted with making sure I'm okay. You keep looking over at me every two seconds. _Sharpay thinks as she smiles at her brother's over protective and caring nature.

She stares at the school. She used to be able to over-confidently walk in through those doors. Now she can't do more than look at them. Suddenly Sharpay is startled by Ryan slipping his arm through hers. He smiles. She smiles back, "okay, let's do this," she says.

--

Troy cautiously walks up the last of the steps to his roof paradise. He keeps his eyes on her, she looks worried.

"Troy," she starts off as he mounts the last step, "I needed to talk to you. I don't know what's going on but I want to help. Troy, you need to-"

"Stop," Troy says abruptly interrupting her. "Why are you doing this?"

She looks confused, "what? Have you been drinking again?"

"I don't think I will ever drink again," he says with a quick smirk but it quickly fades to match the serious tone of his voice. "Stop playing the victim. Like I said last night, I love you. I love you Gabriella but I can't be with you anymore because I no longer trust you love me."

Gabriella smiles weakly, tears forming in her eyes, "I love you too so why can't we work this out.

Troy wraps his arms around her, he truly does love her. "That is the reason right there. We no longer trust each other. I never trusted you actually meant what you said every time you left. You never mean what you say each time you say you're leaving so how am I supposed to ever trust what you are saying. You've left and come back three times." Troy can feel her tears through his cotton t-shirt. "Gabby I love you but I can't be with you. I just can't do it anymore." He unwraps her arms from around his back and looks her in the eyes. There's a single tear stain down her left check, he wipes his thumb over it to erase it. She closes her eyes and leans into the touch. He smiles at her, both their hearts are breaking. He backs away and walks back down the stairs just as the bell rings, he can feel her eyes burning a hole in the back of his head as he leaves. All he can think is that things are about to be very different and possibly not for the better.

--

Days pass and the atmosphere of the seniors at East High is so tense everyone at school notices. Rumours start to circulate. Everyone knows Troy and Gabriella broke up but no one knows why. There are so many theories to this no one knows what's up from down. The rumors of what happened to Sharpay are even crazier.

The rumors have only worsened Ryan's crusade to protect his sister. He knows she hasn't heard any of them and he knows it's for the best that she never does. He continues to help Sharpay regain her confidence and put her back together piece by piece. He sees her function normally at school but he can't help his heart breaking at home when he sees how broken she still is.

Troy is only pushed over the edge with annoyance because of the rumors. He's moody and stays away from everyone because he just can't stand them all looking at him like he's something they need to fix. His grounding gives him the perfect excuse and he only has to deal with people during the school day. To further avoid the 'fixing stare' he buries himself in the play, school, and working on his truck.

After a week of torment the rumours finally start to settle down. Both Troy and Sharpay breathe easy when they walk into school Monday morning and no one stares at them. Sharpay actually smiles for the first time in over a week at lunch that day when her brother attempts a joke. Troy finally decides it's time to go join his friends at the lunch table again, especially because his grounding is over. Everything seems to be moving in a good direction.

Just as lunch is finishing every cell phone in the school starts to ring or vibrate. Troy pulls out his phone and watches everyone around him do the same. He doesn't want to open it and looks around to see Sharpay up at her normal table. She's looking at him as if frozen in terror. He finally looks away from Sharpay when Chad taps him in the arm, "Dude you need to answer your phone." He says timidly.

Troy opens the phone and sees he has a MMS message from an anonymous phone number he doesn't recognize. He feels as if everyone in the cafeteria is staring at him as he it's the button to open the message. It's a picture of him and Sharpay, a picture of him and Sharpay fast asleep in her bed after they'd had sex. He closes the phone and looks back up to where Sharpay was sitting, he's too stunned to do anything else, but she's gone. Troy feels his world spinning as if the ground has fallen out from under him.

--

Sharpay wasn't sure what was going on. She watched as every phone around her went off before she found Troy's eyes. The next thing she knew Troy was pulled away to open is phone and she was being dragged out of the cafeteria by Ryan. "Ryan, stop!" She yells at him. Ryan didn't say anything, he just hesitantly showed her his phone. She took the phone, watching his face before looking down at the screen. Sharpay was stunned, she couldn't think. She felt as if her world was spinning as the ground fell out from under her. She couldn't move she was frozen in shock. "Ryan, take me home," was all she could manage to say.

--

Troy sees red and without any words he gets up and leaves the table. He has to find Sharpay. He has to make sure that she's okay. He has no idea where she went though. He starts by heading to her locker. She's not there. He double's back to quickly check the stage and sound rooms. He goes back to the cafeteria. _Where is she?_ He's starting to panic and he can feel everyone's eyes on him. Then suddenly he knows where she is. _She has to be with Ryan at his locker._ _Ryan, _Troy thinks viciously, _he's the one who took the picture. He's the only one who could have taken it._

Troy thunders down the hallways until he sees Ryan and Sharpay just walking away from Ryan's locker, they don't see him. He manages to catch up to them and grabs Ryan from behind, throwing him up against the lockers.

"What the-" Ryan starts before he is cut off by Troy.

"Why did you do it Ryan? Why would you hurt her like that? Just so she would stay away from me?"

Ryan flips his arms and knocks Tory's grip off of him. "It wasn't me Bolton, think what you want but it wasn't me."

Troy loses his temper again and shoves Ryan up against the lockers. He is just about to give Ryan a piece of his mind when he hears his father yell.

"Troy, what are you doing?!" Mr. Bolton says as he walks up to them. Troy doesn't know how mad his father is, he's kept his grip on the front of Ryan's shirt and refuses to move. "Troy let go of Ryan, now." Troy slowly loosens his grip but still doesn't look at his father. "What's going on?" Mr. Bolton asks.

"Nothing," Ryan says through gritted teeth.

Mr. Bolton looks skeptical but nods, "alright. I'll let it go this time but if I ever see you two going at it again you'll both pay the price." Before either Ryan or Troy can respond or acknowledge the statement Mr. Bolton turns to leave but then stops a few paces away, "oh and Troy we'll finish this at home."

Troy watches as he leaves before turning to Sharpay, "I'm going to figure this out. I promise you." Then he turns on his heel and walks down the hallway after his father.

He reaches the school parking lot and starts looking for his father's car he but stops to question his motives. "Why would Ryan release that photo? Why would he even take it in the first place?" Troy says quietly to himself.

"Ryan didn't take the photo."

Troy turns around to face the direction the voice came from. He spins on his heel and comes face to face with Tiara. "What?" Troy says stupidly.

Tiara looks annoyed, "I said, Ryan didn't take the photo. Wasn't that what you were just mumbling to yourself?" she smirks at the end of her sentence.

"Who took it then?" Troy says confused.

Tiara smiles wickedly, "I did." Troy doesn't understand. "Oh and before you idiotically ask why, I did it to guarantee my spot in the play. With Sharpay all pathetically broken I can take center stage like I came here for."

Troy could fell his blood boil, "I should just…"

"You should just what?" She tempted.

"I should just go." Troy responded. He really hated her but he couldn't face another confrontation being caught.

Tiara looked stunned. "So you'll practically beat down Ryan but you won't touch me. I feel so honored."

"Shut up." Troy says.

"No seriously Troy. I don't understand you. You make no sense."

Troy shoves her back, "I said stop."

"That's all I needed." She smiles then contorts her face into a hurt expression and walks away.

Troy doesn't take the time to process what Tiara meant and takes off in a run to the Evans house.

--

When Troy reached the Evans house he pounds on the door and Mrs. Evans answers. "Are Ryan and Sharpay here?" he quickly asks between his attempts at returning oxygen to his lungs.

She looks wary of him but answers him anyway, "they just got here, but Sharpay isn't feeling well."

"I'll only be a minute," he begs.

She gives him a stern look but nods her head. He quickly thanks here before quickly running up the stairs and towards Sharpay's room. If she's feeling ill that'll be where she is. He mounts the last step and is suddenly met with Ryan's presence, "Ryan!" Troy says stupidly surprised.

Ryan doesn't say anything.

"Ryan please, I just need five minutes."

"Why? Give me one good reason."

"I love her," he says instantly but he knows it's the truth. "Please I've never felt this strongly about any gut feeling. I know it's all messed up and has completely bad timing but I know it's right."

Ryan looks stunned, "I believe you Bolton."

Troy pats his shoulder as he passes before walking the last few feet and softly knocking on Sharpay's door. There's no reply so he slowly opens the door. He sees her sitting in bed, her hair in a messy braid and a sequined jogging suit on while she flips through a photo album."Sharpay," he says softly.

She freezes and looks up, "Troy." Abruptly a fire rages in her eyes, "Leave NOW!!" she screams as she throws the book to the ground.

Troy instinctively takes another step forward, "no."

"Why?" The fire is gone and she just looks confused and broken again. "Why shouldn't you leave? I mean so little to you that you are still with Gabriella. If I mean that little to you why should you stay?"

Troy just stares at here for a second, "I broke up with Gabriella."

"So that just means you'll be back together with her tomorrow right?"She counters.

"Did you hear me Sharpay? I. Broke. Up. With. Gabriella." Sharpay stops and Troy takes the last few steps to her bed. "I broke up with Gabriella. She didn't break up with me this time. It's over. We're done." He sits down at the edge.

"Do you love her?"

Troy can't lie, "yes."

Sharpay nods as tears form in her eyes, "Do you love me."

"Yes."

"How?" she says in a broken plea.

"I don't know how. I do know my love for Gabriella is stronger but I need to be with you. I know I need to be with you because you've never really left my mind since the year you used to be my neighbor."

Sharpay smiles, "I remember that year."

"You do?" She nods. "Sharpay I love you. I know you may not believe me. I know this is not the movie perfect meeting but I want to be with you, no I need to be with you."

"Troy I've loved you longer than you can imagine, but you've also hurt me more than you can imagine. I want to believe you and I'll be with you on one condition." Troy is still sitting at the end of the bed but he feels like he's sitting on the edge of a thousand food cliff. "Kiss me like you mean it." She says.

Troy doesn't hesitate and quickly reaches her side. He tenderly takes her face in both his hands. At the touch of his hands her eyes flutter shut and her mouth opens softly. He gently rests his forehead against hers and moves his hands down her arms to find her hands. He tucks her hands in between his and brings them to his heart. "I love you Sharpay," he says barely above a whisper, their lips barely brushing before he softly kisses her. He's overcome with emotion, "God I love you so much," He says as he feels her hand grip his shirt tight and bring him closer.

Suddenly there's a cough at the door. Troy turns his head and sees Ryan. "Oh God, Ryan I'm sorry. If you want to knock me flat on my ass I'll take it."

"Not that doesn't sound good I can't do that Bolton," he pauses, "Troy." Troy smiles. "I see how much 'Pay loves you because with your simple presence you were able to motivate her more than I was. I may not be buddy buddy with you at this moment but I'll work on it because I love my sister and she loves you."

Ryan had barely finished before Sharpay bursts up from her bed and wraps her arms around her brother in a hug.

Troy smiles, "Now there's just one thing left to say." Both Ryan and Sharpay look at Troy skeptically. "The picture sent out this afternoon was taken by Tiara."

"What!?" Sharpay practically screams. "That little bi-"

"Woah!" Ryan cuts in, "how do you know that Troy?"

"She told me."

"But can you prove it?"

"I don't have too. My dad is staff at the school and I'm a model student. Why would I lie?" He says with a smirk.

--

**A Week Later**

Troy had went home to his father and explained that the fight between him and Ryan was staged to get Tiara's confrontation. Mr. Bolton hadn't believed him in the beginning but Ryan reassured it was true, thanks to his acting skills.

Tiara has become a marked woman and starting Monday morning, today, she is under probation for being sent back to England.

The only thing left for them to face is everyone one at school and here they stand. Side by side in the school parking lot.

Troy takes a deep breath, "you can do this. We can do this." Sharpay looks scared. He turns her gaze to him and softly holds her face. "I'm right here," he says sincerely before kissing her lovingly on the lips.

"'Kay," She says quietly before turning to face the school. Troy grabs her hand and they walk towards their new future. Neither of them knows if they'll last but that doesn't matter. What matters is that in this very moment they feel like everything is finally the way it should be.

--

**THE END**

--

**This is just some back history I made up if anyone is interested:**

**The only time Ryan has seen Sharpay so broken is when she was six and their dog was run over right in front of her when she was walking him on a leash with their father. The other time was when she was fourteen and their Grandfather died. Their Grandfather had lived down the street from them. His wife had passed away before Sharpay and Ryan were born so they were the light of his life. He used to come over and babysit them until their parents came home. He continued to come up until his death because he liked to spend time with them. Sharpay frequently put on shows for him. She continues to perform in his memory to this day.**

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**If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask! :D**


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